TractionReview

All tires made today are required by law to have a speed associated with them before they can get DOT approval.  More...

UTQG, or Uniform Tire Quality Grade, is a Federal government mandated test system for tires. All commercial tires to be sold in the USA require the UTQG rating in order to be legally sold. In order to obtain the rating, there is a strictly outlined test which the tire manufacturer must place on their tire model. UTQG outlines 3 areas of a tires’ performance and quality:

• treadwear
• traction
• temperature resistance

Tire Load Index is a figure given to tires which lets a user know how much weight a given tire is designed to handle. In general, most cars are usually in the 2/3 of maximum for load. For example, a GVWR 4000lb car will probably come with an 87 rating tire, which is good for 1201 pounds a corner, or 4804 lbs total on an ideal 50/50 car (in theory. of course. There’s always the side to side and X cross weights to consider as well).

Most of the time, the size you require for your car only offers load indexes that are applicable. For example, I don’t think that a tire exists in a 315/40/17 for your corvette that comes with a 74 load index. They just simply aren’t made.

Below is a chart with the most common load ratings: